In a news-packed paper this week:
Officials at Middleton Sports and Social Club have launched a “Raise the Roof” appeal to raise £40,000 to pay for repairs
Supporters at Wetheriggs Animal Rescue Centre are aiming to raise £85,000 to develop facilities at its new base
Students were celebrating a top class set of A level exam results
It’s the end of an era as a store that has been trading for more than a century in Middleton-in-Teesdale is to close
We’ve picture specials from a host of events including:
Romladkirk Fair
Dalton and Gayles Village Show
The Summer Hub Fest
Streatlam Steam and Vintage Show
Brough Show
Holwick Scarecrow Trail
In What’s On, we catch up with local artist Dave Palmer ahead of a three-day bank holiday exhibition at the Old Well in Barney
In sport, Doug Bousfield hit his first hole in one at the grand old age of 87, along with cricket, football, rugby, tennis, athletics, bowls and more
Plus community news, readers’ letters, family notices, farm and country, a comprehensive events guide and much more… only in this week’s Mercury, out now.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
